Officials are pondering whether to start the city’s own ambulance service or remain with Smith Ambulance. The issue involves potential revenue for the city, not the quality of service provided.

Smith Ambulance Service has provided emergency ambulance service to the Twin Cities area since 1999 when the previous company abruptly closed. Smith bought a house in Uhrichsville for crew quarters and built a three-bay garage. Smith covers Uhrichsville, Dennison and Mill, Union, Warren and Rush townships.

Councilman Mark Haney is chairman of the committee formed to study implementing a city-operated ambulance service. He favors establishing the service “to help with the city’s revenue issues.” Uhrichsville battled a budget crunch throughout 2012, and finances remain tight.

Haney said it would be another revenue source and could be used to help offset other costs. He said an ambulance would be the major expense and personnel could be hired part-time, without the cost of benefits.

“I’d like to see us try it on an 18-month trial basis, reviewing the status after 12 months,” he said.

Council members unanimously agreed Dec. 27 to extend Smith Ambulance’s contract — about to expire — with its current rates, on a monthly basis.

Uhrichsville residents pay a voter-approved 2.85-mill levy for ambulance and emergency medical service, initially passed in 2000. It has been collected at a lower rate — including at 1.5 mills for the past several years. The 1.5-mill rate generates about $67,400 annually. The full 2.85 mills would generate about $128,000 annually, according to Tuscarawas County Auditor Larry Lindberg.

If council members decide this year to collect the full rate in calendar year 2014, that would raise the current $17.46 tax bill annually to $33.17 per year for the owner of a $50,000 home.

President Bob Smith said his company employs six full-time and several part-time Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics to staff the Twin Cities station 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“I think we’ve provided exemplary service to the community,” Smith said. “I stressed to (Uhrichsville officials) that it’s not handling the initial ambulance call that’s difficult, it’s responding to multiple calls at once. There are a lot of requests for transport to out-of-town hospitals, and that takes time. We send another ambulance down to cover. If they only have one, they couldn’t provide that kind of service.”

Smith praised Uhrichsville firefighters as “very dedicated and skilled individuals that serve their community well. Several of them worked for our ambulance service before joining the department and are very good at what they do.”

However, Smith said that if the fire department moves forward with providing ambulance service “my concerns are the lack of manpower and resources to staff fires, rescue and EMS. They would also have to contract for billing services, which is included in our service. During a large fire that requires all of their manpower, who will staff ambulances? Will they respond to emergencies in the other villages and townships surrounding Uhrichsville?”

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He said the problem is “the dynamic of the area — they’re isolated from other full-time providers. We have five stations and position our ambulances where they’re most likely to be needed. If we get a call in Dover or New Philadelphia, those departments are staffed 24 hours per day, with the manpower resources that can back us up. We don’t receive a subsidy, but we provide mutual aid on a routine basis for each other. It can be be a real scramble to make sure we’re covered with multiple ambulances for the Twin City area. They’re actually contracting for an ambulance fleet system, not just an ambulance.”

Haney said firefighters presented a great idea, and “I think it’s a slap in their face not to listen. They’ve researched and crunched the numbers. Why would they want to take on more work if they don’t have to? If this works in so many other communities, why wouldn’t it work here?”

Haney said an article Wednesday in The Columbus Dispatch featured how fire department-based EMS crews are helping offset budget issues for governmental entities in Ohio.

Potentially operating the city’s own ambulance service was a consideration when the last several firefighters were hired, he added.

Haney said he understands that “everybody wants numbers,” but the service involves responding to accidents, which can only be estimated and change each year.

“Any money that we net from this is more than we had,” he stressed.

Haney said a good, used ambulance costs $19,000 to $30,000.

He said there’s about $100,000 in the ambulance fund, which includes a carryover balance and money to pay the about $5,500 per month to Smith Ambulance.

“I think we could start up within the next three to four months,” Haney said, adding there is a 60-day notification window for either side to end the contract.

There were about 800 EMS calls in Uhrichsville in 2012, with 500 involving transporting patients.

“Operating our own ambulance service would mean handling an average of 600 to 800 calls annually,” Haney said. “The city is losing revenue on ambulance calls.”

However, Smith states that the city can’t bank on revenue from all of those calls.

“If three people are injured in the same traffic accident, you can only transport one if you only have one ambulance,” he said.

Haney said Smith contends that because of the low-call volume, he can’t provide the service without a subsidy. Because of its population, Uhrichsville pays the highest amount of the subsidy among Dennison and the four surrounding townships. There were a total of about 1,400 EMS calls in that area last year.

“As a businessman, he has the perfect opportunity to walk away,” Haney said. “In my opinion, he’s not losing money.

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“We need to look at all possible revenue streams other than asking for more taxes — nobody’s going to vote for more taxes,” Haney said. “I have to look out for our residents and tax dollars.”

Uhrichsville voters rejected a levy in the November general election for police services.

Smith said that for 12 years his company has “lived with the subsidies provided to us,” pointing out that the city didn’t even collect the full amount of the voter-approved ambulance levy.

“Low-call volume and a very low-reimbursement rate necessitate these subsidies to help with costs associated with manning an ambulance service around the clock,” Smith said. “The cost to ‘stand by’ is the major cost to operate an ambulance.

“We have served the area to the best of our abilities with the resources available to us,” Smith said. “I feel we have been a good business neighbor, contributing to various organizations and very worthy causes in the community. We also donated generously to the (Twin CIty Hospital) addition because we feel we are an important of the healthcare of the region. I am sure the decision makers in Uhrichsville will decide what they feel is best for their citizens.

“If they decide to go on their own, I would be happy to help them with the transition,” Smith said.